Google has revealed that they are making a new attempt at social networking. Called Google+, it will allow users to upload photos and messages, with integration from Google s maps and images and looks to help people organize social contacts easily within groups of friends.
“Instead of coming directly at Facebook, which would be suicidal, I think they’ve recognized that they have to grow out from a niche — and the niche here is people who want to be connected with a specific circle or a specific group, Josh Bernoff, an analyst with Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Forrester Research Inc. “In that context this has a chance to be a small success.”
“What Google is doing is leveraging the fact that you have a lot of contacts in your e-mail; the biggest network you have is your address book,” said Charlene Li, founding partner and technology analyst at the Altimeter Group. “Friend management, contact management, has always been an issue when it comes to Facebook.”
“Previous attempts by Google to enter social networking included the site Orkut and the Gmail adjunct Buzz. I clearly knew I had to do something and I failed to do it,” said former Google CEO Eric Schmidt of those attempts.
“Google+ features include Sparks, which gathers videos and sites on particular interests and Hangouts which allows multiple people to video chat at once, with a mobile version coming soon. We already have users,” said Bradley Horowitz, vice president of product management. “This isn t a startup that’s trying to acquire users. The users are here already. It s just that the experience we ve offered them is incoherent and disconnected.”
Source: Bloomberg
